LEXINGTON ? The Kentucky men?s soccer team puts its unbeaten record on the line Saturday at 7 p.m. when it welcomes Belmont to the UK Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats are 2-0-1 on the young season after fighting to an away draw against rival Louisville on Wednesday night. Belmont enters the contest 1-1 after a pair of overtime games, beating Western Kentucky and falling to Memphis.
Kentucky has been led offensively by Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week Riley O?Neill, who already has four goals and an assist this year. On defense, UK has been excellent, sporting a miniscule 0.62 goals-against average. The Wildcats have not allowed more than one goal in a game in their last seven outings dating back to last season.
Early on, UK has relied on youth in its games, playing as many as six freshman last time out. Freshman Jase Griffiths and Mark Halma have already assisted on big goals for UK while freshman keeper Dan Williams has been tremendous in goal.
Belmont counters with a defense led by Jay Ayres, the reigning Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Week. Three different Bruins have found the back of the net on the offensive end.
The two teams have met three times previously with Kentucky owning a 2-1 advantage in the series. All three games were played from 1996-98. The Wildcats are 2-0 in Lexington against Belmont with a combined score of 5-0.